In conjunction with the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money, to be held Aug. 10-14, Stack’s Bowers is offering what it describes as a “uniquely styled and exceedingly rare” American Bank Note Company (ABNC) presentation frame.
Filled with 23 proof banknotes from 10 note-issuing entities, including Canada and Nova Scotia, the frame will cross the block as Lot 20035 on Aug. 18.
It’s one of 10 frames the ABNC auctioned in 1988; however, only seven frames featured a combination of proof banknotes and postage stamps the ABNC once (with the other three examples displaying only vignettes and stamps).
According to auctioneers, the example on offer this August is the only one available to collectors (with the other six now held by Yale University’s numismatic collection).
One of its nearly two dozen banknotes is a 19th-century $20 bill issued by the Ontario Bank, a major financial institution from its founding in 1860 until its collapse in 1906, when the Bank of Montreal took over the operation.
The frame also features notes from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia-Panama, Ecuador, Greece, Peru and the United States plus 158 stamps also printed by the ABNC. It’s expected to bring upwards of $250,000 US (about $315,000 Cdn.) as Lot 20035.